Selenium-Substituted Diketopyrrolopyrrole Polymer for High-Performance p-Type Organic Thermoelectric Materials

Development of high-performance organic thermoelectric (TE) materials is of vital importance for flexible power generation and solid-cooling applications. Demonstrated here is the significant enhancement in TE performance of selenium-substituted diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) derivatives. Along with strong intermolecular interactions and high Hall mobilities of 1.0-2.3 cm²  V^-1  s^-1 in doping-states for polymers, PDPPSe-12 exhibits a maximum power factor and ZT of up to 364 μW m^-1  K^-2 and 0.25, respectively. The performance is more than twice that of the sulfur-based DPP derivative and represents the highest value for p-type organic thermoelectric materials based on high-mobility polymers. These results reveal that selenium substitution can serve as a powerful strategy towards rationally designed thermoelectric polymers with state-of-the-art performances.